Space Raised
by luckypixi
Summary: Before the Five Year Mission, Jim and Bones break up. When Starfleet orders the Enterprise to look into an abandoned Medical Research Facility, which specialised in reproduction methods, Jim, now with Carol, leads his team down. When an accident occurs, their lives turn upside down and when Carol drops another surprise, can Jim and Bones pull together to raise their child properly?
1. Chapter 1

**My first Star Trek multi-chapter fic : ) **

**I hope you enjoy this one, I've got it all planned out; angsty, fluffy, action...**

**Please review and let me know what you think...**

**Enjoy!**

**Onwards...**

'So, Bones; tell us about this place.'

Jim Kirk leaned back in his seat at the head of the table and looked at the Doctor, who looked through the notes on his PADD.

'It's an abandoned medical research station, Lexus 6. Decommissioned forty years ago by the United States Government who decided the research funding was better off served somewhere else.' He paused.

'What were they researching, Doctor?' Asked Spock, looking at the small planetoid on the vid-screen.

'They were primarily focussed on fertility treatments and exploring new methods of reproduction. Both humans and otherwise.' Bones told the Vulcan, who nodded and continued to study the screen.

'Right.' Jim swiped his PADD and a picture of the facility came up on the screen. 'So, we've got orders to take a look around, secure the place. Apparently there's a Study that Starfleet Medical would love to get their hands on if we find it-'

'That's an understatement' Muttered Bones; Starfleet Medical had been after this Study for years. An experimental machine used to speed up rates of reproduction; no evidence suggested it really existed, but there were rumours that the Doctor's had actually succeeded. It was considered the Holy Grail of medical research.

'So, Spock, Carol, Bones, Sulu, Uhura and I will be beaming down for this one, Scotty has the Conn.' Jim told his team. Scotty nodded, winking at Chekov; the young Russian smiled back; he liked having the Helm to himself.

The Captain glanced over at Carol, who was seated a few seats down the table. She smiled back, eyelashes batting.

Bones rolled his eyes. He felt sorry for the girl really; she really was besotted with the Captain. He himself had found out that nothing ever really lasted when Jim Kirk was involved; He and Jim had been together throughout the Academy and beyond, until just after he had brought Jim back from the dead after the Khan Incident. Jim had decided to cool it off, to take a break, and find his Space Legs again. Then promptly hooked up with Carol Marcus. As far as Bones was concerned, they were welcome to each other. He should've known really; once bitten, twice shy. He wouldn't be making the same mistake a third time.

He cleared his throat as Jim and Carol continued locking eyes like Shakespearian lovers. When they first got together she'd acted like the cat that'd got the cream. She made sure they all knew, especially him, who was with who. And she wasn't about to let him forget.

'Is that all, Jim?' he asked. 'Only, I got patients.'

Jim nodded. 'Meet us in the Transporter Room at 09.00'

Bones nodded. That gave him a little over an hour. 'Aye aye, Captain.'

-x-

'Do you think they did it, Sir?' asked Christine Chapel as Bones collected various medical instruments to take with him. Bones looked at her.

A young nurse, only about twenty five, Christine had white-blonde, short hair, which she liked to spike up, a New York accent and a nice smile, which Bones and his patients greatly appreciated. She was currently undertaking her Medical Degree, supervised by himself. She'd make a fine CMO someday.

'I don't know, Chris.' He finished packing. 'I think that if they had, we would've known about it. Why would they shut it down if we had the technology to do that?'

Christine nodded and smoothed down her skirt. 'Good luck, Sir.' She smiled. She knew how much he hated Beaming anywhere. Bones nodded.

'Don't have too much fun without me' he warned as he walked out, waving to M'Benga, who was acting CMO whilst Bones was gone.

-x-

'Ready?' Jim asked as he climbed up to the Transporter Pad. Bones nodded, looking straight ahead.

'As I'll ever be with this damned machine' he growled under his breath. He arched an eyebrow when Scotty sent a wink his way. He and Scotty were good friends, both on and off shift.

'Energise.' Jim told Scotty, linking hands with Carol, who was stood next to him. Scotty almost laughed out loud at the expression on the Doctor's face as he disappeared into atoms.

-x-

Sulu looked around. 'Wow.' He breathed. 'This is amazing.'

'Starfleet Medical don't do things by halves.' Bones told him. The research station was top of the range, in pristine condition. White marble buildings under a dome which housed perfect Earth conditions. It was home away from home.

'Yeah, but I expected something…different.' Sulu looked around again. The place was deserted, but it had a homey, academic feel to it.

'It hasn't been utilised in over forty years.' Bones explained as they walked forwards. He took out his identification card, which attached to a hook on his belt. This card would open every single door on the Enterprise, a fair few doors back in San Francisco and all the doors here. Not even Jim would have access to this facility; there were a few perks to being CMO of the Flagship. He scanned it down the small scanning slot by the side of the handle. The little light turned green and he pushed the handle.

'Don't panic.' He told the group as a whole as he stood facing them, closing his eyes, hands behind his back. He held his breath. They all eyed him as if he'd gone mad.

Jim gaped at him. 'Uh, Bones….what are you doing?'

'I'd close your mouth if I were you, Jim.' Bones told him.

Jim did as he was told and just in time too. Uhura and Carol let out a little squeal, Sulu a gasp when they were all suddenly covered in a freezing liquid, which quickly fuzzed up into foam. It covered them from head to foot.

'Decontamination, Captain.' Spock told him, ears poking through the foam covering his face.

'Right'

A warm liquid was now being squirted at them, soaking into their uniforms.

'I'd hold onto your skirts now, girls' Bones warned as an industrial strength blower started up, blowing their clothes dry.

Finally, the onslaught stopped. Bones waited a few moments before opening his eyes.

'Sorry' he told Jim, who was patting down Carol's hair gently. 'Should've warned you'

Carol shot him a venomous look, and shook her head. Jim gave him a look, but didn't say anything.

It had all been a bit fractured between them from the start of the Five Year Mission; he'd spend more time with Spock than he had with Jim. Even started to get quite good at 3D chess.

Leading the way, Bones walked down the corridor; they were in a deserted foyer, a reception desk on their right. He had looked up the way to the laboratory back in his office; he knew where he was going.

'What kind of methods?' Uhura asked him as they turned right and walked down a darkened hallway.

'Of artificial reproduction?' Bones sighed. It wasn't really an area which he specialised in. 'Mainly, remember this was over forty years ago, because back then, not a lot of women wanted research posts off planet. Off in far flung places like this, people, Doctors got posted here for thirty plus years. Old Doctors were dying and not enough were being Transported in to replace them.'

Bones took a right down through a ward. 'So, they came up with a machine that one person could use, to reproduce their DNA and make a child. Or two men, two women, whatever…' Bones waved his hand. 'There's no documentation that they managed to do it, but it's well known it was what they were tryin' to do.'

Jim nodded, intrigued. He felt Carol squeeze his hand. He smiled and gently extracted his hand from hers. Bones watched as Carol grabbed his wrist, pulling him to a stop.

'I need to talk to you. Privately' Bones heard her urgently whisper. He and the others stopped when Spock realised the Captain was not with the group.

'Captain?'

'Later' Jim told Carol, who frowned and nodded, following Jim back to the group.

Bones took another right and they came to a door. He pulled out his ID card again.

'Have you worked here before, Doctor McCoy?' Carol asked him in clipped tones as they came to a stop around him.

'..No' Bones told her, swiping his card 'Why?'

'You seem to know an awful lot about it. And you have a key to a lot of their private doors.' She told him, eyes suspicious.

'I know a lot about it because Jim asked me to look into it.' Bones looked at the Captain. 'And I have a key to the doors because I'm a Starfleet Chief Medical Officer. But I would've thought you'd know that by now.'

Carol opened her mouth ready to say something else, but Bones had already turned away and opened the door.

They all filed in, and Jim ran his hand across the wall, clicking a button he found there. The lights came on, illuminating the room.

Bones looked around in awe. 'My God…' he breathed. It was a Research Doctors paradise.

There were rows of computer terminals, research labs, books on every wall, both real and automated, lab equipment, tricorders and even an operating simulator table.

'Jeeze, Bones.' Jim grinned, slapping him on the back. Bones tried not to notice that his hand lingered more than it should've done. 'This place is awesome.'

'If you like medical equipment, I guess.' Carol offered, casting bored eyes around the room.

Bones ignored her, moving forwards to a computer. Jim moved towards the equipment table.

Bones clicked into the most recent research document and scanned through it. It looked like a prototype for something, a new piece of equipment. He looked through its complicated specs.

His eyes widened. 'My God, they actually did it.' He muttered, catching Spock's attention.

'Did what?'

'Says here they built a prototype model of the reproduction machine.' Bones told him, breathing fast; this could me a major breakthrough. 'They ran out of funding before they could make more.'

He didn't notice what Jim was doing. 'Say, Bones.' Called the Captain, tinkering with a fingertip pad on the side of a machine. 'What does this one do?'

'Huh?' Bones looked up. His eyes widened. 'Jim! Don't touch that.'

Jim didn't hear him…there was something written on the pad. 'Place whole hand here.' He read.

'Jim!'

Jim looked up, hand hovering. Bones near on ran up to him. 'Don't touch anything.' The doctor told him, grabbing his arm and pulling him away. 'You don't know what any of it does.'

'I really can't get over how you let him speak to you.' Carol told Jim, who was looking at the machine again. 'It's insubordination.'

'Look, sweetheart, Jim would probably be dead somewhere if I wasn't around to tell him not to touch things.'

'Yeah…' Jim nodded, eyes focussed on the machine. Carol huffed.

'Well, I think it should be stopped.'

'Uh, Bones….is that supposed to light up?' Jim asked, forestalling the argument.

'I told you not to touch it!'

'I didn't!' protested Jim, holding his hands up in the air. 'I swear!'

'You swear?' Carol mimicked, 'What are you, his Captain or his nurse?'

Jim gave her a look, hand wavering, He took a step back as a precaution. He swore as his foot hit the table leg. He pitched backwards, left arm flailing.

'Jim!' Bones reached to grab him. Jim put his hand down heavily. Right on the handprint pad.

'No!' Bones grabbed at his hand, linking his fingers with the Captain's to tear his hand away, but it was too late.

Sulu looked wide eyed at the machine. 'Is it supposed to do that?'

The machine had lit up, an initiation sequence playing out.

'DNA Sequence verified…DNA sequence verified….'

Bones paled. 'Oh shit.'

'DNA merging complete…DNA merging complete…'

He looked at Jim, who looked wide eyed at the machine. There was a small noise, like a coffee machine finishing and a lot of mist. At the back of the machine there was a small incubator, bathed in a dark red light. There was something moving in it. Jim, Carol and Bones moved over to it, Sulu, Uhura and Spock not far behind them.

'Bones…'

'Yeah, Jim?'

'Is that…is that a…'

'Yeah, Jim.'

Bones took a deep breath before he looked down into the incubator.

'Oh shit.' Muttered Jim, pointedly not looking at Carol.

Bones lifted the small baby out of the incubator.

Spock moved over, Uhura close to his side.

'Congratulations, Doctor, Captain' said the Vulcan.

'It's a boy.'

**Let me point out, I like Carol as a character, it just works for the story this way...**

**Update soon... thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for reading so far :)**

**Please let me know what you think...**

**Enjoy!**

**Onwards...**

When they rematerialized on the Enterprise no one said a word. Sulu and Uhura exchanged a glance.

'Captain!' Scotty exclaimed, rushing forwards ' The computer picked up an extra molecular set this time round, I don't know-'

'It's ok, Scotty. We know what it is.' Jim told him.

Scotty's eyes travelled to the sleeping baby nestled against Bones's chest, wrapped up in his blue medical tunic. His eyes widened.

'What the bloody hell is that!?'

'That' is a baby.' Bones told him, rolling his eyes. His moved his arm to better cradle the baby, who snuffled into the sleeve of his black undershirt.

'Aye, but Doctor, babies don't just grow on trees!' The Scot told him.

Bones' eyebrow nearly disappeared into his hair.

'Oh, really?' the Doctor exclaimed. 'Gee, I must've missed that lesson at med school.' Scotty gaped at him as he walked off the Pad.

Jim watched him, 'Uh, Bones…where are you going?' he asked, acutely aware everyone was watching him.

'To Medbay.' Bones told him, peering down at the bundle in his arms. 'Gotta check him over and as far as I know there are no lactating females aboard the ship. Little guy's gotta be hungry.'

Jim nodded and made to follow him, but Carol caught his arm. 'Where are you going?' she asked, eyes wide. Her face was pale and she brushed her blonde hair from her face.

'I gotta go…need to go with-' Jim's mouth gaped like a fish as he pointed, but Carol wouldn't let go of his arm.

'I've got something to tell you. I didn't want to tell you like this' Carol took a deep breath. Jim eyed her warily, Bones hanging by the doorway.

'Jim…I'm pregnant.'

Jim let out a surprised shout. 'Oh…' he scratched the back of his head. 'That's uh…that's…great. Wow.'

Carol smiled and threw herself into his arms, Jim too stunned to move. Bones felt his stomach crash into the floor. He walked quickly out the door before Jim could say anything else.

-x-

'Uh…sir?'

Bones gave Christine a look and put the baby down on a biobed. He looked down at the little boy. His son. Small tufts of blonde hair haloed his head, small fingers flexing. When he was awake earlier he had the biggest hazel eyes Bones had ever seen. A perfect mix of Jim and himself.

'Where did you find him?'

'Captain Idiot touched something he shouldn't've done' Bones told her, running the tricorder over the infant. 'Damn fool started a machine and I tried to stop him, Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt' Bones gestured towards the sleeping boy. 'Baby'

'Wow…congratulations?' she offered.

Bones ran a tired hand down his face. 'Thanks…'

The door to sickbay flung open. 'Bones!' yelled Jim, striding forwards.

This startled the baby awake and he started crying immediately. His little face flushed and he balled his fists up, lungs heaving as he screamed. Bones sighed, but didn't say anything. He'd done this before. He took the baby into his arms gently and hushed him.

'Shh…don't cry, darlin'… your dad's just got a big mouth, is all.'

Jim stayed quiet and just watched. 'Bones, what the hell are we going to do? I can't have a baby!'

'By the sounds of it, you're gonna have two' Bones told him over the baby's screams. 'Congratulations, by the way.'

'Shut up' Jim told him, sitting down heavily on a chair. Christine moved away, leaving the trio alone.

Bones watched him as he gently shook their baby. Now Jim looked younger than ever, much more the Jim he had fallen in love with years ago. He looked stunned, numb.

Bones wondered where Carol was right now.

He knelt down in front of the Captain, the baby having fallen back asleep.

'Hey' he whispered. He reached out and gripped Jim by the knee. 'It's not all bad.'

Jim scoffed, looking at the floor. 'Not all bad?' he repeated.

Bones shook his head. 'It was an accident; no use cryin' over it now. It's done.'

Jim looked at him, eyes wide as the baby snuffled in Bones' arms.

Bones watched as Jim studied the kid, as his mind worked. He raised the baby in his arms.

'Here you go' he said before he maneuvered the baby into Jim's arms.

'Bones, I…' spluttered Jim, but some sort of instinct must've taken over because the Captain moved his arms to accommodate his son, cradling his head gently. The baby didn't stir, just continued to slumber.

'He's tiny.' Jim murmured, touching his finger against a tiny hand. He smiled when the baby captured the end of it.

Bones looked at the readings on his equipment. 'Newborn.' He agreed. He looked down at the pair.

'We need to think of a name' he mused.

Jim's head shot up again. 'A name?'

'Well, yeah.' Bones knelt down on the floor again and ran a hand through the infants blonde hair. 'Unless you wanna call him 'Baby' all his life?'

Jim looked down at his son. 'What about…Oliver…? No, I don't like that…'

'You know,' Bones said, 'If me and Joce had a boy, we were gonna call him Daniel.'

Jim thought about it. 'Daniel Oliver…Kirk?' he asked, looking at the Doctor.

Bones smiled. 'Kirk-McCoy' he amended. Jim smiled back.

'Hello, Daniel Kirk-McCoy.' He said to his son. Daniel slept on. Bones raised an eyebrow when Jim sniffed.

'He smells…different…' he said.

Bones chuckled, 'That's the newborn smell; you'll miss it when it's gone.'

Bones felt protectiveness and love unfurl within him as it had when Joanna was born. He wondered if Jim felt the same.

After a few moments, Jim broke the silence.

'Carol's mad. Real mad.' He said, not looking at Bones. 'She wanted to tell me about the pregnancy tonight. Announce it to the crew tomorrow.'

Bones nodded, looking at Daniel. 'It was an accident. No need to be mad; there's nothing we can do about it now. There's gonna be two babies on board and that's that.'

Jim groaned and buried his head into Bone's shoulder. Bones patted him on the back, rubbing his arms comfortingly.

'Jim.'

Jim looked up as Carol spoke, the science officer looking sullen. She didn't look at Daniel. Her eyes were shining as if she'd been crying.

'Are you coming back to our quarters?' she asked, ignoring Bones. 'We need to talk.'

Jim looked at Bones and then back down to Daniel. 'Yeah…' he muttered, 'Bones…could you?'

'Sure.' Bones gently scooped Daniel up, resting his head on his shoulder.

Jim looked guiltily back at him as he followed Carol out the ward. As the door closed Bones just shook his head, sitting back in the chair Jim had vacated.

What a mess.

Christine tentatively walked over, a small brown bag in her hands. 'Baby stuff' she said, setting it down on the bed. Bones nodded tiredly.

'Thanks'

Christine nodded. She looked down at Daniel.

'He's cute. Like his Dad'

Bones snorted, thankful for the joke. 'Think very carefully before you say which one' he warned, standing up and picking up the bag.

Christine smiled at him.

'Geoff ok to be on shift for a while?'

'We got it covered, sir.' Christine promised.

Bones nodded in thanks and walked out the door. As he walked down the corridor he noticed he was attracting odd looks. But he didn't care.

This is not how he had imagine today would've gone. If only Jim hadn't touched the machine… But now the little guy was here.

He sighed, punching in the access code to his room. He looked down at Daniel. It didn't matter how it happened. It happened. Now he had to deal with it. With or without Jim.

His door opened and he walked in, the lights coming on automatically.

'Doctor.'

Bones wasn't surprised to see Carol here. He just sighed, put down the bag, sat down on his sofa and nestled Daniel against his chest.

'I'm sorry.' He said, before Carol opened her mouth.

'I don't care.' Carol told him. 'Jim and I are having a baby.'

Bones nodded in understanding, feeling his heart speed up in suppressed anticipation of an argument.

'Jim and I love each other. We're going to be a family. We don't need this.'

'I'm not stopping you, darlin''. Bones told her, glancing down when Daniel sneezed. Carol showed no reaction.

'I don't doubt you love him. But you need to accept Daniel. He and your little'un are gonna be half-siblings. I don't wanna to fight you' He was a grown man, already had another child; they needed to deal with this situation as adults.

'Our baby and yours are going to have nothing to do with each other. And if you think we're raising our baby in space, you need to think again.' Carol told him.

Bones blinked. 'Jim said that?'

Carol looked shifty. 'Jim will come with me. He doesn't know I'm here talking to you. But I know he'll agree. We need to raise our child together. As parents.'

'Ah.' Bones understood; Carol needed to set down the rules, to make sure Bones understood that he and his son meant nothing. Carol's child was the most important. He swallowed his anger; it was a natural reaction, a mother's instinct to protect her child.

'I think you need to leave.' He told her, standing up. He shifted Daniel in his arms for better hold. 'I'm sure you need to rest.'

Carol shot him a venomous look, eyes narrowed. She left the room in silence.

Bones listened to the quietness of the room. To Daniel's little huffs of breath.

'Well, kiddo.' He looked down at his son.

'Looks like it's just you and me, darlin'.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for reading so far, I hope you're enjoying it :)**

**Please let me know what you think!**

**Enjoy! **

**Onwards...**

'Ok, Daniel…if you do that again tonight, I'm sending you to sleep with your other Daddy.'

Bones looked down at the big brown eyes staring up at him. Apparently, Daniel was the type of baby who thought sleep was for the weak. After a small cat-nap comprising all of fifteen minutes, little Daniel was wide awake all night, screaming for most of it.

While Bones was practised in the art of pacing up and down a room singing nursery rhymes, he had a lot more to do work-wise than he had when Joanna was little; the paperwork on his desk wasn't going to fill itself out. He'd almost forgotten the sound of ear-splitting screaming and screeching in the middle of the night and had gotten used to nice quiet nights by himself. But he supposed he wasn't unaccustomed to lack of sleep; two years as a Medical Resident and as CMO of this tin-can, days could easily blend into each other.

Daniel looked up at him, little hands flailing around on the Doctor's bed sheet as Bones tried to gather all his nappy things together. Dressed in a green baby-grow which had the Starfleet logo in the middle of it, Daniel kicked his little legs, face growing red. He let out a little whimper, blue eyes shutting. Big fat tears formed at the edge of his eyes. His fingers clenched open and closed as he scrunched his face up, a scream erupting from him.

Bones sighed and knelt down on the floor so he was opposite his son 'You know,' he said conversationally, as he undid the poppers on the bottom of his baby-grow and gently pulled it off, 'If you went to sleep when you're supposed to, darlin, we wouldn't be havin' this trouble now.' He reached out a hand and ran it through Daniel's hair; it stiiled the crying and the little boy leaned into the touch. Bones smiled and leaned down to press a raspberry onto his stomach. Daniel let out a little giggle and squirmed. The Doctor chuckled and quickly changed his nappy, disposing of the dirty one.

'Come on then.' He gently picked Daniel up, cradling him against his chest. 'We gotta find you more clothes. And some more bottles. And some more nappies' Bones looked down at his son and rolled his eyes fondly. He was fast asleep.

'Typical.' He muttered, as he exited his quarters. 'Just like your father.' Jim could stay awake for days at a time before just suddenly falling asleep. Bones had once found him asleep in the bath-tub back at the Academy.

Making his way down the corridor he was careful to shield Daniel from knocks and bumps from his fellow crew-members rushing past him. Again, he got a few funny looks, but most of them smiled and nodded at him, passing on their way. Bones supposed it was a rarity to have such a young child on-board a Starship. Daniel would be a novelty for a while.

Bones punched in his access code to the Store Deck; anything and everything was stored here, from medical supplies, food/water rations, clothes, hygiene essentials. Everything anyone would ever need in the five years they'd be away from home.

'Come on' he said, looking down at his slumbering son. 'Let's go get your gladrags on.'

-x-

'Captain, we're sixteen hours out from the intended planetoid.'

'Thank you, Spock'

Jim nodded to his First Officer, who moved back to his station. The atmosphere on the Bridge was a bit strained; no-one knew how to approach the Daniel situation; how Jim would take it if they pried into his business; Carol hadn't been seen on the Bridge since the previous day; her station was being filled by Ensign Brown today.

They knew there would be no chance of them heading back to Earth; already nearly a year into Uncharted Space, going back would be waste of time. They had the supplies if a pregnancy should happen. The Enterprise could cope. Although the births would have to be registered as soon as possible with Starfleet Command.

Jim sat staring at the Space in front of him, his mind racing. He could work this out. He had to. He couldn't let this affect his capacity as Captain. Carol had barely looked at him since they had spoken yesterday evening. He had spent the night on the couch, thinking. She was angry and upset, of course she was; to a point, so was he. His life was now changed forever. He had so much to do, so much left to see. Sure, he had the responsibility of over 700 lives on this ship every day, but this was different. This was personal, his life. Two children. How could he have two children? He scoffed at himself; he was being overdramatic: Bones' life was changed now as well. He didn't ask for this either; and he'd been left holding the baby. Jim sighed and stood up, moving over to talk to Sulu about their heading. Anything to take his mind of his quickly spiralling situation.

-x-

'So, I'll see you tomorrow, Carol.' Geoff smiled at Carol from the other side of his desk. 'I'll be able to date the pregnancy and we'll take it from there.'

Carol smiled and rubbed his stomach; this morning she could swear she felt a small bump forming. 'Thank you, Doctor' she said, standing up. 'Will you be able to tell the sex?'

Geoff opened the door for her, 'Depending on the length of pregnancy, maybe. Will the Captain be joining us?'

Carol shrugged. 'I'm not sure.' She said. She hadn't seen him this morning since he had left for his shift. Walking back into the main Sickbay she watched McCoy walk in towards her through the double doors.

He had Daniel in a baby-carrier strapped over his chest, his head supported with a small blue blanket; a small head covered in blonde hair poked out the top. He had large bag of what she supposed were baby things in one his hands, a large bundle of paperwork under his other arm. He looked tired.

Bone stopped as he saw her, unsure. His nurses, who had walked forward to greet him, moved away quickly.

Carol sucked in a deep breath and walked forwards. 'Doctor McCoy' she greeted.

Bones nodded in return. 'Carol.'

Daniel chose that moment to let out some trapped wind. Bones looked down, eyes wide.

Carol couldn't help the surprised smile that shot to her face. 'Hello to you, too.' She said to the baby, who slept on. She looked back to McCoy, who was watching her reactions. There was no reason not to be civil with each other. After the conversation they had last night, they both knew how the other felt. Not much had changed in the few hours since then.

'There's plenty of post-natal equipment left in storage.' He informed her, holding up the bag. 'It's amazing how much is down there.'

'Better to be prepared.' Carol agreed. 'You never know when something…unexpected will happen.

They were silent for a while. She looked back at the CMO's office. 'Dr M'Benga is going to scan me tomorrow.' She told him conversationally, as the atmosphere turned awkward.

'Good…that's great, Carol. Dating?' Bones slipped easily back into Doctor-mode.

'Mmm-hmm.' Carol looked down at Daniel. She had seen his big brown eyes the day before, a part of McCoy. The little boy had McCoy's facial shape as well. Her heart beat faster as she recognised parts of Jim in him; his hair, his nose. His little ears. Would her baby share those traits? Would the half-sibling look familiar, like full siblings? She was supposed to give this to Jim, the wonder of seeing parts of yourself passed down to another, someone you had created. She had wanted to see Jim's face light up as he held his child for the first time, see him cry in happiness.

Blinking back tears, she looked back at Bones. The doctor looked at her, his hazel eyes full of understanding. She couldn't hold his eye contact for long.

'I'd best get inside' he said, motioning to his office. 'Paperwork.'

'Of course' she replied absently, turning to wipe her tears away. She mumbled something like a goodbye and walked out of Sickbay.

She didn't look back.


	4. Chapter 4

Bones made his way slowly through the corridors, Daniel nestled in his arms. Diaper freshly changed, his son was sleeping quietly, emitting small snuffles every now and then. He felt his eyes droop as he walked. Twelve hours sleep in three days was not enough. Daniel was definitely not a sleeper. Not at night, anyway. The moment he dropped a Tricorder onto the face of an Ensign who had come in to have his broken nose fixed, Bones knew it was time to act.

Coming to a stop in front of the metal door, Bones pressed the buzzer; Jim had changed the access code the day after they split up.

The door opened and Jim stood there, looking at him quizzically. 'Hey Bones,' he said, 'are you okay?'

'No.' Bones told him. 'I'm not. Can I come in?'

'Yeah, sure.' Jim moved out the way to let the Doctor pass, watching as his ex gently put his son down on the couch, sitting next to him. He looked awful, thought Jim as he sat opposite them.

'What's up?' he asked, rubbing the back of his head. He looked down at Daniel, his little chest rising and falling in time with his breaths.

'You need to take him for a while.'

Jim felt the bottom fall out his stomach and his face pale. 'What?' he stammered. 'Why?'

'I can't do this much longer,' Bones told him, 'I can't function on twelve hours sleep in three days.' He rubbed at one red eye. 'One thing I learnt with Joanna was that you admit when you need help. He's half you.' He said blandly. 'You need to take him for a shift, at least. I need to sleep or I'm gonna fall over.'

Jim sat back in his seat, stomach churning. He looked back down at his sleeping son. How hard could it be? Carol wasn't due back until after Alpha shift. After her scan two days ago revealed they were having a healthy baby boy in just over eight months, Carol had resumed her normal work station until her maternity leave kicked in. They had mutually decided to keep the news to themselves; neither of them were ready for the whole ship to know just yet.

'Sure,' he smiled, holding out his arms. 'I'll take him for a while.'

Bones eyed his sceptically. He'd expected Jim to put up more of a fight. Gingerly, he picked up his son and gently placed him in his father's waiting arms. Daniel squirmed a little, but stayed asleep.

'I'll be back in while,' Bones told him, standing up a little unsteadily. 'You sure this is okay?'

'Yeah,' Jim waved his hand. 'We'll have a great time.' He was too busy looking down at the bundle in his arms.

Bones nodded, running a hand down his face. Leaning down to press a kiss to Daniel's forehead, he nodded at Jim and exited the room, gratefully looking forward to a long, uninterrupted sleep.

-x-

Two hours later, and Jim understood exactly how hard it could be.

Daniel balled his little hands into fists, his scream splitting the air.

'Oh, come on!' breathed Jim as he jiggled him up and down, patting his back. 'I thought babies were supposed to sleep all the time, not scream so loud the Klingon's could hear you!'

Daniel hiccupped and stopped himself crying, brown eyes opened wide as Jim spoke.

Jim studied him. 'So you like listening, do you?' he mused, carding his fingers through his son's blonde hair. Big brown eyes continued to stare at him. A little hand reached out and clasped onto Jim's fingers; Jim felt his heart leap a little.

Jim opened his mouth to say something else, his little finger stroking the material on Daniel's clothes. What did you say to a baby? Anything? Talk like a baby? Could they understand adult speak?

Obviously, his thinking was taking too long, because Daniel's face flushed red again and he started crying, kicking his little legs against Jim's right forearm.

'Okay, okay!' he cried, resuming his jiggling. 'What do you want to know?' he asked, pacing the room, patting his son gently on the back. 'Warp Core Theory? The Federation Treaty? All the guff they teach you back at the Academy which you never have to use in real life? I mean, Typography!' Jim pressed a kiss into his son's hair as he gabbled on, 'Unless you're a Typographer, when are you gonna use that?'

Daniel gurgled back at him, and Jim shifted him so his head was nestled on his shoulder, supporting him against his bottom with his arm. He could hear his son breathing; sweet little huffs he felt tickle his ear. It was an amazing feeling, filling him up. Jim smiled. When did he become so emotional?

He felt Daniel tense up, his little body shuddering.

'What's up, buddy?' he asked, looking down awkwardly. He opened his mouth to say something else when Daniel let out a burp and something warm trickled down his back.

Jim tensed up, eyes wide in alarm. Then the smell hit him.

'Thanks, Daniel. That's just great…really brilliant' He gingerly lifted his son down from his shoulder, wincing as the vomit cooled and filtered through to his skin. Daniel looked up at him, brown eyes wide and innocent.

Jim studied him. 'I bet you feel better now, huh?' he smiled and wiped a little vomit from his son's chin away. He craned his neck and looked at his tunic. 'Well, at least you can match colours,' he told his son. 'Yellow on yellow.'

He put his son on the couch, and quickly stripped off his yellow command shirt, leaving him in his white undershirt.

'Let's do something that doesn't involve puking on Daddy, shall we?' he asked, grinning down at him.

Jim knelt down in front of him, watching his every movement. Daniel's eyes were beginning to droop, his leg and arm kicking getting less erratic. Jim watched in fascination as his son fell asleep, eyes moving gently behind their lids, mouth slightly open. He could hear him breathing.

Jim felt like he could just sit there for hours, watching him sleep.

So he did.

-x-

When Bones arrived three hours later, Jim had to admit; he looked a lot better than he did before.

'How was he?' the Doctor asked, looking down at their son, who looked back up at the pair of them from Jim's arms.

'No problem, 'Jim told him proudly. 'Was good as anything.'

Bones smiled and sniffed the air. 'I can tell he left you a present.'

Jim snorted. 'Let's just say, I threw the shirt down the chute.'

Bones chuckled and held his arms out to Jim to hand over Daniel. Jim did so, slowly.

Bones noticed his hesitation. 'Jim,' he said 'You're his father as well. I'm not gonna stop you seeing him. Not ever. Okay?'

Jim felt his skin flush. 'Thanks' he mumbled. 'You promise?'

Bones felt his heart break a little. It was times like this he was reminded how young Jim actually was.

'Promise.'

'See you soon, little guy' Jim smiled down at his son, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. 'Real soon.'

Bones nodded and moved to the door. 'Thanks again, Jim.' He said, as Jim walked him out. 'I mean it.'

'Drop him round whenever you like.' Jim told him, touching his son's hair.

Bones nodded and turned away, walking back towards Medical.

Jim just hoped he would be back soon.


End file.
